The Importance Of Verifying News (Question And Answer)
06-02-2008
Question:
Scholars of Islam, as-salamu `alaykum. Some people spread rumors or news without
verifying the information, which mostly leads to confusion, disorder,
misunderstanding, etc.
What is your advice to these people?
Answer:
Wa`alaykumas-salamu warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His
Messenger.
Brother, thanks a lot for your question and care for the affairs of your fellow
Muslim brothers and sisters.
In the first place, we would like to highlight that all of us have a
responsibility to the society and world we live in, and we are also responsible
to make tomorrow a better day through the accuracy of information we spread or
publish. That is why Islam forbids that we base our opinions on circulate rumors
and half information.
Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslim lecturer and author, states:
It is well known that verifying news is something of high importance according
to Shari`ah, as Allah Almighty says:
"O ye who believe! If an evil person brings you tidings, verify it, lest ye
smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did." (Al-Hujurat
49: 6).
The Lawgiver issued a stern warning against passing on all news that one hears.
It was narrated that Hafs ibn `Asim said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “It is enough lying for a man
to speak of everything that he hears.” (Reported by Muslim)
It was also narrated from abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “It is enough sin for a man to
speak of everything that he hears.” (As-Silsilah as-Sahihah, 2025)
Commenting on the above hadith, imam an-Nawawi said:
"Usually a person hears truth and lies, so if he speaks of everything that he
hears, he is lying by telling of things that did not happen, and lying by
speaking of something other than the way it happened; and he does not have to do
that deliberately (in order to be regarded as telling lies.)"
It was narrated that al-Mughirah ibn Shu`bah said: The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) said: “Allah has forbidden you to disobey your mothers,
to bury your daughters alive, to not pay the rights of others and to beg from
others. And He dislikes gossip for you, asking too many questions, and wasting
money.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
In his commentary on the previous hadith, al-Hafiz ibn Hajar said: With regard
to the words “and He dislikes gossip for you”, there are certain points that
should be clarified concerning the meaning of this hadith:
1. It indicates that it is disliked (makruh) to speak too much because it
leads to mistakes.
2. It refers to narrating differences of opinions concerning religious
matters, such as saying, “This one said such-and-such and that one said
such-and-such.” The reason why this is disliked is that speaking of such matters
may lead to mistakes. This applies especially to those who transmit such views
without verifying them, merely imitating those whom they hear without exercising
caution. This is supported by the Prophetic hadith that states, “It is enough
sin for a man to speak of everything that he hears.” (Reported by Muslim).
It was reported that ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “How bad it is for a man to keep
saying, ‘They (i.e. other people) say…” (As-Silsilah as-Sahihah)
The above may explain why our righteous ancestors were keen to establish proof
and were wary of rumors. `Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)
said: “Beware of temptation (fitnah), for a word at the time of fitnah could be
as devastating as the sword.”
The following are some of the examples that show to what extent spreading
rumors is dangerous among the Ummah:
1. When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) migrated from Makkah
to Abyssinia, they were safe, but then a rumor spread that the kuffar
(disbelievers) of the Quraysh in Makkah had become Muslims. So some of those
Companions in Abyssinia left it and traveled to Makkah. To their amazement, they
found that the report was not true, and they met with persecution at the hands
of Quraysh. All of that happened because of rumors.
2- During the Battle of Uhud, when Mus`ab ibn `Umayr (may Allah be pleased with
him) was killed, there was a rumor that the one who was killed was the Messenger
of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so the army of Islam withdrew
because of a rumor, and some of them fled to Madinah and some stopped fighting.
Proper Shari`ah Methodology in Dealing with Rumors
There are certain ways which help one deal with rumors, especially those related
to news. Here are some of them:
1. Deliberation
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Deliberation is from Allah
and haste is from the Satan.” (As-Silsilah as-Sahihah)
It is worth stressing here that the one who deliberates may meet some of his
needs while the one who is hasty may slip.
2. Verifying News
Allah Almighty says:
"O ye who believe! If an evil person brings you tidings, verify it, lest ye
smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did" (Al-Hujurat
49: 6).
What is meant by verifying is to make strenuous effort to find out the facts
behind a certain issue so as to establish whether this can be proven or not.
Verifying also means to be sure of the truth of a certain report and its
circumstances. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: The believer reserves judgment until the
matter is proven.
In conclusion, we advise everyone to verify matters and not to rush to pass on
news until they are sure that it is true, even if the news is good because if it
becomes apparent that the one who passed it on is mistaken, he will lose
credibility before the people, and anyone who bears a grudge towards him will
use it against him.
Submitted by a Mujahid